144 



RECREATION 



I'd Seen something of him around the 

 hotel and I didn't like his manner. He 

 had a quiet, high and mighty way of 

 ordering people around that didn't suit 

 me, and he kept off to himself most 

 of the time, — wasn't a bit sociable, as 

 most people are on such trips. 



"Well, the first day we were out, I 

 thought he was just about the most 

 exclusive chap I'd ever struck. But ' 



as I did the roads in the Valley, and 

 that I knew it would take until night 

 to reach another camping place, and 

 that the horses had already done 

 enough for one day. 



"Well, I might just as well have 

 talked to the trees or the stones for 

 all sign he gave of hearing me, or even 

 of knowing I was there, except that I 

 saw him press his lips together. He 



I 



didn't want to poke myself into his com- got off his horse and said, 'Tighten this 



pany if he didn't want me there, and so 

 I was just as exclusive as he was. At 

 dinner time I fixed his meal for him 

 and then I went off under another tree 

 and began to eat mine. He scowled at 

 me, and I thought maybe he didn't like 

 me to sit that close to him, and so I 

 went farther away. But presently I 

 saw that he wanted me to stand behind 

 him and wait on him, and then I took 

 my dinner in my hand and marched off 

 into the woods until I thought he had 

 finished. He looked as black as a 

 thunder cloud at me when I came back, 

 and all that afternoon we rode along 

 without saying a word that wasn't 

 necessary. 



"We reached the place where I meant 

 to make camp a couple of hours before 

 sundown. There was good feed there 

 and plenty of water, — it was in those 

 green meadows you see over there this 

 side of that high, sharp peak, — and I'd 

 planned to stop early, seeing that he 

 wasn't very strong. I got off my horse 

 and, as he rode up, told him we'd stop 

 there for the night. He seemed an- 

 noyed, and I saw his eyes gleam as I 

 spoke. He looked off over my head, as 

 if I wasn't there, and said he did not 

 wish to make camp yet. His manner 

 made my blood boil a little, but I kept 

 cool and explained that it would take 

 till plumb dark to get to another camp- 

 ing place as good as that. He didn't 

 seem to be listening to me at all, just 

 sat still on his horse and looked at the 

 mountains. I couldn't help getting mad- 

 der at that, but I tried to keep, my tem- 

 per down, and went on explaining that 

 I'd spent months and months in these 

 - mountains and knew the ground as well 



cinch!' I was so astonished I couldn't 

 take my eyes off his face, and I just 

 stood and stared at him. Then he came 

 toward me a step or two and said, very 

 quietly, but in a tone that was as sharp 

 as a knife : 



" 'We've had quite enough of this. 

 I did not come out here to take orders 

 from you. I want you to understand 

 that we shall camp when and where I 

 please. Tighten this cinch, and get on 

 your horse again and keep your place 

 hereafter. I'm not here to take orders 

 from a servant.' 



"Perhaps I wasn't mad!" Ned Rog- 

 ers' blue eyes were set and blazing at 

 the mere remembrance of his feelings, 

 and I smiled to think how his com- 

 panion must have winced under them. 

 "I sprung for him and grabbed him 

 by the collar and the shoulder and 

 shook him till his teeth chattered. 

 'You cur,' I shouted at him, Til have 

 you know I'm no man's servant! And 

 if you ever call me that again I'll 

 choke the breath out of your inso- 

 lent body! We'll camp here to-night, 

 and after that you can do as you please, 

 and get a servant if you can find one!' 



"I let him get his own supper, — I 

 wouldn't have touched a morsel of food 

 for him if he begged me on his knees, — 

 and fix his own bed the best he could. 

 I attended to the horses, but I didn't 

 pay any more attention to him than if 

 he hadn't been there. And early the 

 next morning I saddled my horse and 

 was all ready to start back home, when 

 up he jumps out of his blankets and 

 comes up to me and says he : 



' 'Rogers, this has all been my fault. 

 You've been a gentleman and I have- 



